"newsline" of i'm james tengan. international olympic committee members have picked beijing for 2022 winter olympic games. that makes it the first city to host both the summer and winter games. beijing previously hosted the 2008 summer olympics.

>> beijing. >> beijing won the bid. the city was competing with kazakhstan. beijing plans to make use of several existing cities. city officials say that will help keep cost down. it's a factor that impressed ioc members. ioc also recognizes the value of financial support from the government of china, the world's second largest economy. in the final presentation, chinese officials underscored the nation's ability and promised a successful event. >> translator: we pledge our full guarantees for the games, financial legal security organizational and operational areas. sport is a noble cause that has the opportunity to change lives and transform the world. >> buttism oc officials also point out the challenges beijing

faces, potentially unsuitable weather conditions and pollution. chinese officials are showing confidence to host the winter olympics on the back of the successful 2008 summer games. let's go live to our reporter in beijing. takafumi, what's the reaction there to the games coming back? >> reporter: good evening, james. as you might expect, it's like the whole country is beaming with pride. state run tv showing coverage of the meeting in malaysia. on a special live program right now, the presenters expressed joy when beijing won. the country's organizing committee said they will reuse existing facilities so that should keep costs down. but government officials and business people are also hoping that the games will lift the country's slowing economy. development projects are already under way in zhangjako, the site

of some ski events. construction for high-speed trains to link the city with beijing. hotels and apartment buildings are springing up as well. locals say over the last few years buildings have replaced fines. there's still challenges. ioc members pointed to beijing's lack of snow. they say they will use machines to build it. they are using pipeline for water reservoirs. air pollution is an issue. government leaders say they will improve things in that area, too. china's national pride will be in the spotlight again, and i'm sure the country will be using its massive financial and human resources to make 2022 winter games a success.

>> takafumi, thank you so much for that report. we'll be hearing from him later in the day. researchers at a u.s. think tank say china is building an airstrip on a disputed area in the south china sea. they say the airstrip would operate bombers. china's increasing military presence in the region. jun has more. >> reporter: analysts for international studies have released their latest study on the airstrip at fiery reeve in the spratly islands. longer than runways on nearby islands. they say that's the only airstrip to allow use of strategic bombers of the analysts say deployment of such aircraft will allow chinese military to cover extensive

airspace ranging from indian ocean to western pacific including guam where the united states has military sites. >> the only reason you would need an airstrip that long is if you wanted to be able to land all range of aircraft in a country's arsenal and that does suggest china is preserving the option to use the airstrip for military purposes. >> reporter: earlier this month, the head of the u.s. pacific command admiral harry harris expressed similar views and he called for an immediate halt to the construction. but china said the construction work in the spratly islands reflects no military ambitions. >> the construction in the islands can help china to perform its global responsibilities in a better way as well as enhance navigation security around that area. >> reporter: japan has not stayed silent. its new defense white paper

expresses strong concerns over china's expanding maritime activities in the south and east china seas. the paper, which was submitted to the cabinet on july 21st describes the activities assen attempt to change the status quo by force. foreign minister kishida said the concern will be shared by his counter-parts in southeast asia, who are due to meet in malaysia next week. >> translator: there have been a lot of discussions about rule of law and freedom of navigation in the south china sea. i expect foreign ministers will continue discussing these issues at the forum. >> reporter: countries in the region and beyond are continuing to pay close attention to china's increasing activities in the western pacific.

nhk world. >> thank you, jun. i'll have more news from around the world to come, but first here is jean otani with the day's developments in business and finance. gene. >> thanks. struggling electronicsmaker sharp is pulling out of tv manufacturing in north america. executives are trying to rebuild the company's business. the executives plan to sell a plant in mexico to home appliance hi sense. sharp with drew from making tvs in europe last year. the firm wan to revive the unit by restricting production to japan and other asian countries. the company also released its group earnings report for the three months through june. sales totalled nearly $5 billion, down 0.2% from a year ago. the executives report add group operating loss of $230 million the first for the quarter in three years. they blame plunging demands for lcds for smart phones in china.

checking on the markets, tokyo stocks closed higher after moving in a tight range during trading. let's get the details from our business reporter at the tokyo stock exchange. yang, what can you tell us? >> the benchmark nikkei average hovered around thursday's closing level. investors mostly stayed on the sideline before the flood of corporate earnings reports this week and next. nikkei closed 0.3 higher. topix index. market movers, japan airlines are high, its shares up 1.8%, a sharp rise in foreign visitors and low fuel costs boosted earnings during the last quarter. denso, top rated auto parts lifted its forecast for april through september. its stock was up 2.7%.

mitsubishi motors shares dropped nearly 5%. the company's operating profit in the last quarter was 40% less than a year before. so it was quite a busy week for markets in japan and across asia with china in the spotlight. let's hope we have a more stable situation in august. giang nguyen reporting from the tokyo stock exchange. >> thanks for that report. moving onto other markets in the asia pacific region. stocks in china seem to need more time to stabilize. shanghai composite slid 1.1% closing at 3663. for july plunged 14.3% marking biggest monthly decline in six years. hong kong added more than half a percent boosted by shares of casino operators but gains were limited as some investors are still cautious about the markets in mainland china. the index fell for a third straight month. sydney rose half a percent extending its winning streak to a third day. earlier losses up 5%.

for july posted its sharpest monthly drop since december. trade negotiator from japan and united states are close to reaching an agreement on one of their most contentious issues. they are working on the final touches to clench a dial on japan's imports of u.s. rice. officials holding talks in hawaii for proposed transpacific partnership free trade deal. the meeting is scheduled to run through friday. the japanese propose a system that will allow a certain level of increase in rice imports but without a government guarantee to fulfill the quota. u.s. negotiator showed a certain level of acceptance of the plan but japanese negotiators want to cap 70,000 to 80,000 tons per year. u.s. wants more. members from all tpp member companies are expected to agree to step up anti-piracy measure, this will allow governments to suspend counterfeit goods even

when companies vlated don't file complaints. the ministers ease regulations in the service sector such as retailing in emerging markets in southeast asia. foreign visitors in japan spent a record $7 billion in the april through june period. officials say tourists from china and other asian countries are flocking here to shop. officials at the japan tourist agency say spending on accommodation, shopping and other items for the quarter rose more than 82% for the same period last year. japan expanded its list of tax-free items in october. officials say that helped boost tourism numbers. they also credit more foreign language speaking staff and other services targeting visitors. spending by mainland chinese tourists more than tripled, 40% of the total. travelers from taiwan and south korea followed in the spendin list. average consumption per person rose more than 20% to about $1400. agency official say annual spending by foreign travelers

this year could top $3 trillion yen or $24 billion for the first time. the growing number of businesses are taking note that cats are increasingly the pet of choice in japan. there are now 10 million of them in japanese homes. it's not hard to figure out why. cats are low maintenance. like dogs, they don't need to be walked every day and they are easily cared for by the single and the elderly. >> reporter: in june about 3,000 people attended a funeral the prefecture. the deceased was a cat. put in charge of an unmanned station on a local rail line eight years ago.

visitors flocked from japan to see the adorable cat in the costume. responsible for 360,000 ride in annual passenger numbers. she was 16 when she died. about 80 in human years. cats are living longer in japan. most are kept at home so they don't get the infectious diseases that killed off their ancestors. this has not gone unnoticed by japan's largest petmaker. it has focused on making products for felines. these are for cats over 20 years old. the pellets are 30% smaller than normal. the older the cats get, the weaker their jaws become. similar products have been sold to the u.s. since last year.

there are plans to sell them in china as well. >> translator: as cats live longer, more cat food is consumed and the food becomes more expensive. so i believe the business opportunities are growing. >> reporter: the growing market is not just for food. how about a place where your pet cat is cared for like a member of the family? this hotel for cats opened in tokyo this month. pet owners seem undeterred by the price tag of $40 a night. popularity is growing by word of mouth. there are no cages here. each cat has a room of its own equipped with a bed, a toilet and a special carpet that's easy on their claws.

a camera connected to the internet allows owners to peek at what their pets are up to any time they want. >> translator: we aimed to make a place where owners could keep their cats without any concerns. we've been getting reservations and inquiries from around japan. >> as japan increasingly takes cats to its collective heart, a growing rash of businesses are helping them live longer, happier lives. >> that's it for business news, i'm going to hand it back to you, james. >> thanks, gene, for those updates. three former executives of tokyo electric power company will face mandatory indictment over their handling of the 2011 nuclear indictment at fukushima daiichi. nobody so far has been held had

dismissed the complaint filed against the officials. the prosecutors earlier said the tepco executives could not have predicted a shake and tsunami with the same magnitude as that of the march 11th disasters. friday's decision means the mandatory indictments of former tepco chairman tsunehisa katsumata and former vice presidents sakae muto and ichiro takekuro for negligence resulting in death and injury. court appointed lawyers will act as prosecutors in the trial. in its decision, the panel said tepco should have taken measures to protect the plant from tsunami and flood triggered accidents after projecting a 15.7 meter tsunami hitting the plant. the

precautions, a serious accident like the one in march 2011 could have been avoided. the leader of the local residents says she believes the court will determine who is responsible for the disaster and exercise fair judgment. >> translator: 110,000 people are still unable to return to their homes. based on the evidence, it's clear that tepco's former executives are responsible for the accident. >> the residents' lawyer said if the former officials had escaped indictment, the real cause of the accident would have been covered up forever. he said he hoped that the trial will find out more about what caused the nuclear accident. tepco's president declined to comment on the decision or the criminal complaint that led to it, but he renewed his heartfelt

apology to the people of fukushima and many others for causing trouble and concern. people who survived the atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki in 1945 are getting on in years. the average age of the survivors now exceeds 80. there are special nursing homes for them in the two cities. facilities number only a few. the waiting list is long and time isn't on their side. >> she's 87 years old. she arrived in hiroshima age 17 just three days after the atomic bomb was dropped. she was later diagnosed as having been exposed to radiation. three years ago she developed cancer.

she also suffers from chronic heart disease. now she is seeking a place in a nursing home for atomic bomb survivo survivors. >> translator: i got sick and old. it's lonely being alone here. >> the dropping of the atomic bombs on hiroshima and nagasaki in august 1945 led to japan's surrender and the end of the pacific war. the bombings killed more than 200,000 people in both cities. tens of thousands of others have been plagued by lingering health problems. as of march 2015, there were 183,500 recognized atomic bomb survivors. this is a nursing home for them. the facility is subsidized by the national and local governments, so costs for residents are low. the residents also receive

medical support including regular visits from specialized physicians. perhaps more important, living in these homes allows the survivors to feel a sense of community among themselves. for the last three decades this nursing home has been publishing the memoirs of the victims' experiences. to date 388 residents have contributed and seven volumes have been published. the home also holds storytelling events where they can share their experiences with visiting children. >> translator: the river was colored red. it wasn't the color of water. we must never do to war again. please. >> reporter: this home is a place where people who have been through the same experience can pass their final years in

serenity while quietly campaigning for peace. but there are only four such nursing facilities in hiroshima and two in nagasaki. all together the facilities can house 1,005 people. but there are 2,800 people on the waiting list. officials in the hiroshima city government have told her she will have to wait as long as six years for a spot to open up. at 87 she cannot hide her worry. >> translator: i'm still able to live independently. but when i can no longer do so, i want to go into a nursing home. i'm willing myself to do my best. >> reporter: officials at the health and welfare ministry have said, it's not possible to build any more homes for them because

of the country's financial difficulties. so the challenge remains of finding ways to help the atomic bomb survivors live out their final years as peacefully as possible. >> you're watching "newsline," i'm james tengan. a heat wave is gripping many parts of the middle east and southern europe as saiqa mori tells us. >> hot, typically late july to early august the hottest time of the year in the hemisphere affecting the south and middle east. the high 51 degrees celsius thursday and a certain place in iran felt like 68 degrees celsius due to high humidity. so they are struggling with the heat. take a look at this video from several places. the government issued a heat wave alert in jerusalem next

wednesday. local spots to the beach to cool off in tel aviv. a somewhat later than normal heat wave hit athens. locals sought relief under trees or dipping their heads in fountains. many residents in baghdad chose to go about their daily life as usual on thursday despite the searing hot weather. the government declared a four-day holiday with temperatures expected to surpass 60 degrees celsius. again, hot weather will likely continue for the next few days. high across baghdad over the weekend, unseasonably hot, 46 for the high next three days and across athens and ankara areas temperatures 38 degrees on friday but cooling down a little bit as we go into the weekend. thundershowers in the balkan peninsula, cool air from the northeast meeting warm air in the south. more severe weather over iberia,

south of france. there's a possibility of thunderstorms, large hail and even tornadoes as we go into the weekend. we saw clear skies for many parts of japan and temperatures were very high across many places. shim anto kochi, 38.2, this holds japan's highest temperatures on record. taj imi the hottest place in japan. high temperatures for the weekend. 35 in tokyo with partly sunny skies and thundershowers expected on sunday because cool air is coming in in the upper atmosphere and staying quite hot into monday. 34 degrees for the high. according to japan meteorological agency temperatures will remain much higher into the middle of august. watch out for heat stroke. heat affecting northern korea, especially south, north korea and spotty showers expected in

the seoul area as we head into the weekend. heavy rain across north vietnam and southern end of china. across the right side of the stream a tropical storm is moving over the water. this is number 13 named storm for the western pacific. this will likely intensify to a strong typhoon into early next week and eventually could affect okinawa islands as well as taiwan as we go into the latter part of next week. a cyclonic storm hit bangladesh thursday. it has now become a depression. still rain and winds in areas, miramar and bangladesh. this will likely make its way towards eastern india. remaining quite stormy across places as we go through early next week. here is your extended forecast. ♪ ♪

here on "newsline," our top story once again. international olympic committee members have picked beijing for the 2022 winter olympic games. that makes it the first city to host both the summer and winter games. beijing previously hosted the 2008 summer olympics. >> beijing. [ cheers and applause ] beijing won the bid. the city was competing with kazakhstan. beijing expresses it plans to make use of several existing facilities. city officials say that will help keep costs down. it's a factor that impressed the ioc members. the ioc also recognized the value of financial support from the government of china, the

world's second largest economy. ioc officials also point out the challenges beijing faces, potentially unsuitable airñ÷p÷9ç

>> a palestinian toddler is burned to death in a west bank arson attack, by suspected israeli settlers. it is being called an act of terrorism. debris found on reunion island is that of a 777. hopes that that is missing wreckage of malaysian flight 370. and beijing will host the winter city, becoming the first to host both the summer and winter olympics.